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August 12, 2026 | Project C.U.R.E
Ifrah Ali delivered the mission moment speech at the 2026 Health & Hope Gala in Denver on August 9. Below is the text.
My name is Ifrah Ali. I was born in Somalia, and today I live here in the United States. I am a mother of four boys, and I started the Gelle Foundation because of something that completely changed my life.
I want to tell you a story.
When I was pregnant with my first son, I had a very difficult pregnancy.
The doctors found a very large fibroid. They told me it was aggressive. I was always in pain. I would pass out. One day I even fainted before I made it to my doctor's appointment.
It was scary.
There were times the doctors didn't know what was going to happen.
But every time something happened, there were doctors.
There were nurses.
There was medicine.
There was equipment.
There were people who knew how to help me.
My son came early. He spent eight days in the NICU.
Today he's eight years old.
Every time I look at him, I thank God.
I thank God because I know things could have been very different.
At that time, I thought this was just my story.
I didn't know God was preparing my heart for another mother.
A little while later, my brother introduced me to a woman living in a village in Ethiopia.
We were just talking.
I asked her about life there.
Then she told me something I have never forgotten.
She said,
"I don't want my daughters to get married."
I asked, "Why?"
I thought maybe she was talking about arranged marriage.
She said,
"No."
"If they get married, they will become pregnant."
"And if they become pregnant..."
"...they may die."
I remember sitting there thinking...
"What if that had been me?"
A few weeks later my brother called.
He told me she had gone into labor.
She started bleeding badly.
Her family tried to take her to a hospital.
They traveled for hours.
She delivered her baby on the way.
The baby lived.
She didn't.
I couldn't stop thinking about her.
I kept thinking...
I went through something very similar.
But I had doctors.
I had nurses.
I had medicine.
I had medical equipment.
She didn't.
That was the difference.
So I went to Ethiopia.
I met her daughters.
I met the little baby she left behind.
I talked with the woman who helps deliver babies in that village.
She told me stories that broke my heart.
She told me about mothers dying because they didn't have what they needed.
She told me about babies dying because they didn't even have simple equipment that we take for granted every day.
I came home and thought...
"What can I do?"
I didn't know anything about nonprofits.
I wasn't a doctor.
I didn't know where to find hospital beds or incubators.
I just knew I had to try.
I prayed.
The very next morning I was driving to the gym.
The radio was on.
A woman was talking about Project C.U.R.E.
She was talking about helping hospitals around the world with medical equipment.
I actually pulled my car over.
I grabbed my phone because I didn't want to forget the name.
I remember saying,
"God... You heard me."
That was the beginning.
Today the Gelle Foundation and Project C.U.R.E. are working together so more mothers don't have to experience what that family experienced.
So more healthcare providers have the equipment they need.
So more babies have a chance.
I still think about that mother.
I still think about my own pregnancy.
The difference between us was not that I was stronger.
The difference was that help was there when I needed it.
That is why I believe so much in Project C.U.R.E.
When I first found Project C.U.R.E., I thought I was looking for help for one village.
Instead, I found people helping communities all over the world.
Different countries.
Different people.
Different needs.
But always the same hope.
Every day, Project C.U.R.E. puts life-changing medical resources into the hands of healthcare providers who are doing everything they can to save lives.
Every day, hope takes a different shape.
I'd love to share just a little of that hope with you tonight.
And finally, I would love to share a timeless reminder that I call The Five Gifts of Life.
Every one of us has been blessed with five precious gifts:
These are not just gifts to keep, they are gifts to use.
So, as you leave tonight, I invite you to ask yourself one simple question: Which of these gifts can I use today to make someone else's tomorrow better?
